Disney villains can be as popular as the heroes, but there are still many great villains from throughout the years who deserve more appreciation. Many of the best Disney villains ever, like Cruella, Ursula and Scar, have fans of their own, and people watch their movies just to see them in action. Not every Disney animated movie needs a great villain, but they often add another layer for fans to appreciate.
Good Disney villains, like any good movie villains, need to highlight the story’s themes and reveal truths about the main characters. Disney villains tend to stand out with their flamboyant visual designs, and a memorable musical number can also help. Ultimately, not all Disney villains get the love they deserve, either because their movies aren’t too popular, or because they don’t exactly fit the mold.
You are watching: 10 Most Underrated Animated Disney Movie Villains
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Ernesto De La Cruz
Coco (2017)
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Ernesto de la Cruz is one of Pixar’s best villains, especially because Disney and Pixar have a patchy record of pulling off twist villains. Even if the twist is predictable for some people, it’s still satisfying to see Ernesto’s bombastic facade falling away to reveal his true colors. For the first time since Miguel first arrives in the Land of the Dead, the ghoulish surroundings suddenly seem foreboding and inhospitable.
What makes Ernesto such a compelling villain is the way he reflects one side of Miguel’s character, and his idolization of fame and prestige.
The difference between Ernesto and Héctor – and the difference in their music – sums up Miguel’s journey in the Land of the Dead. At first, Ernesto seems appealing with his bravado, excitement and popularity, but Miguel is more drawn to Héctor’s heart and authenticity. What makes Ernesto such a compelling villain is the way he reflects one side of Miguel’s character, and his idolization of fame and prestige.
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Mother Gothel
Tangled (2010)
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Tangled is about Rapunzel’s journey of discovery, so it takes a while for her to realize that Mother Gothel is keeping her as a prisoner to absorb powers from her hair. Of course, the audience sees Mother Gothel’s true intentions from the first minute of Tangled, which creates some delicious dramatic irony. Rapunzel is an inherently likable character, and it can be excruciating watching her being kept unaware of Mother Gothel’s true nature.
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With the recent news of a live-action Tangled remake, Disney will have to get Mother Gothel’s character right if they’re to stand a chance of recapturing the success of the animated version. It will be interesting to see Mother Gothel’s transformation and rapid aging in live-action, but her sneering mannerisms and flagrant gaslighting are what make her such a loathsome villain, so the casting will have to be spot-on.
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The Coachman
Pinocchio (1940)
Pinocchio was one of Disney’s very first feature-length movies, but it remains one of their very best. The villains often go overlooked, however, with Pinocchio, Gepetto and Jiminy Cricket getting most of the attention. There are a few villains vying for attention in Pinocchio, but the Coachman is the biggest and baddest of them all, so evil in fact that he’s capable of making Honest John and Gideon shudder.
There are a few villains vying for attention in Pinocchio, but the Coachman is the biggest and baddest of them all.
Pinocchio is a masterpiece of expressive hand-drawn animation, building on the great exaggerated movements of early Disney shorts. The Coachman’s every movement, or restrained lack of movement in some cases, makes him a physically imposing figure before he even opens his mouth. His strong, rigid mannerisms act as a great counter to Pinocchio’s fluid movements and Honest John’s extreme flexibility.
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Percival C. McLeach
The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
George C. Scott is perfectly cast in The Rescuers Down Under, as he brings a gruff, authoritative tone to the villain. McLeach is a ruthless poacher on the trail of Marahute, a rare golden eagle, as he has no qualms about kidnapping a child and threatening his life to get to the bird. Despite his evil nature and his deep voice, McLeach’s physicality doesn’t always match this persona. He draws a lot of his power from his machines and his gun.
McLeach’s unusual physicality reflects his mental shortcomings, since he isn’t exactly an evil genius. He sometimes appears to be less intelligent than his reptilian sidekick Joanna. McLeach strikes the perfect balance between being intimidating and a bit of a joke at times. When he’s talking with Cody, he towers over the boy and seems much more frightening than usual, even when he feigns kindness.
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Edgar
The Aristocats (1970)
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Edgar Balthazar is a rather sympathetic villain at first. He only gets rid of the cats because he sees that they’re standing between him and an enormous fortune. Many people would do something similar if they were so disrespected by their employer that they fall below a family of cats in the pecking order. Ultimately, Edgar’s plan is foiled when the cats miraculously find their way back to Paris.
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Edgar crosses the line when he resorts to trying to kill the cats. It’s not as if abandoning some cats in the countryside is a particularly heroic act, but it at least shows that Edgar is moral enough not to murder them. It seems as though the more evil Edgar becomes, the more clownish and incompetent he becomes too. It’s a joy to see his final plan ruined by a mixture of feline teamwork and some pathetic slapstick mishaps.
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Al McWhiggin
Toy Story 2 (1999)
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While hype is still building for Toy Story 5, the franchise’s best villain remains Toy Story 3‘s Lotso, and rightly so. However, Al deserves more appreciation for different reasons. He definitely isn’t as evil as someone like Lotso, who knows full well that toys are sentient beings, but his humanity makes him more relatable to the real world. With him and Stinky Pete, Toy Story 2 has two very strong and very different villains.
With Al and Stinky Pete, Toy Story 2 has two very strong and very different villains.
Sid, from the original Toy Story, is a simple villain who mistreats toys. In his own way, Al is an extension of this same idea, since he also uses toys for something other than their intended purpose, hoarding them so that he can sell a collection to a Japanese toy museum. This wouldn’t necessarily be a villainous act, but he steals Woody from the garage sale. It’s not Al’s actions that make him a fun villain, but his immaturity and oafishness, both highlighted by Wayne Knight’s voice performance.
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Long John Silver
Treasure Planet (2002)
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Treasure Planet is one of the best Disney movies of the 2000s, and it perfectly encapsulates the studio’s unique style of animation from the time, torn between traditional hand-drawn animation and the new trend of computer-generated 3-D imagery. This blend of the old and the new happens to be a perfect allegory for the whole movie, which transplants Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Planet into a futuristic sci-fi setting.
He isn’t as blatantly evil as some other Disney villains, but he’s often more interesting and unpredictable.
Long John Silver is a fascinating Disney villain, because he isn’t as black-and-white as most. At some points, he even seems like a great ally to Jim, almost like a father figure, but he is ultimately ruled by his insatiable greed for treasure. Long John Silver’s good side shows how easily greed can corrupt someone who might otherwise be a hero. He may not be considered among the best Disney villains because he isn’t as blatantly evil as the competition, but he’s often more interesting and unpredictable.
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Yzma
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
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The Emperor’s New Groove is fondly remembered by people of a certain generation, but the villainous duo of Yzma and Kronk are much more memorable than the heroes, Kuzco and Pacha. Yzma and Kronk develop a hilarious double-act, with Kronk as the kindhearted but incompetent sidekick to Yzma’s boundless fury. Kronk is arguably the best Disney villain sidekick ever, but he wouldn’t be nearly as funny without Yzma.
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Yzma certainly has her fans, but she still isn’t appreciated among the top tier of Disney villains as she should be. She ticks all the boxes for a great Disney villain, with some funny quotes, a heart of real evil, and a brilliant voice performance from Eartha Kitt. Perhaps if The Emperor’s New Groove were more popular overall, Yzma would get the love that some of Disney’s other great villains get.
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Prince John
Robin Hood (1973)
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Like so many of the best Disney movies, Robin Hood reimagines a classic story in a completely unexpected way. All the staple characters of the Robin Hood legend are portrayed as different animals, with Robin as a cunning fox, Little John as a kindly brown bear and the Sheriff of Nottingham as a despicable wolf. While the Sheriff of Nottingham has his fair share of villainous moments, the scrawny lion Prince John is the true antagonist.
Although he has the appearance of a weedy, inept ruler, this gives Prince John an inferiority complex that manifests in dangerous ways. As opposed to other villains who maintain power using brute force, intelligence or manipulation, Prince John is only in charge for as long as he can evade the notice of his brother, the rightful monarch. He may be a lion, but Prince John could just as easily be a snake like his comedic sidekick, Sir Hiss.
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Professor Ratigan
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
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The Great Mouse Detective is a bright spot in the period known as Disney’s “Dark Age,” and while other movies of the era have fallen into obscurity, The Great Mouse Detective still deserves an audience. One big reason for the movie’s lasting appeal is the villain, a cunning street rat voiced by horror icon Vincent Price. In The Great Mouse Detective‘s Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Professor Ratigan is the equivalent of Moriarty.
In The Great Mouse Detective‘s Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Professor Ratigan is the equivalent of Moriarty.
There have been many big-screen versions of Moriarty which fit the same mold, presenting him as a character of remarkable genius and low moral fiber, making him a dark reflection of Holmes’ own psyche. Ratigan is a little different, since he’s a more hands-on, brutal kind of evil. With his inept sidekick Fidget and his enormous cat Felicia, Ratigan is an imposing villain in more ways than one. He also happens to have the kind of upbeat song that sticks in the memory.
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